Curtin University

Overview

'Community Engagement' is becoming a nifty buzz word that is often heard than experienced. What is community engagement?

A good community engagement empowers the people involved by providing them with space and resources to achieve their potential, and bring their visions of community engagement to completion. We often forget that engaging a group means granting them a certain degree of freedom, which denotes trust in their cause and their abilities- hence the empowerment in decision-making and the contribution to the aspired culture shift. Community engagement is not a static process; it is not a series of small, unrelated events; it is a flowing, vibrant process, sometimes turbulent, but also exciting and ‘alive.’ In order for community engagement strategies to bloom, a balanced approach needs to be adapted- understand the needs and wants of the community, but keep in mind of resources and abilities to make the most of them.

LEC offers exciting community engagement activities which aim to improve social responsibility and citizenship skills, reduce stereotypes, and create greater inter-cultural understanding. These activities also help communities get resources, funds, support and networks to enable continuous development.